Abstract:

Objective: To establish a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for detecting the adenosine
content of Lepidium meyenii (maca) and utilize it to detect and the adenosine contents of domestic maca grown at different
altitudes, its different tissues, dried samples obtained using drying methods and maca varieties with different skin colors.
Methods: A 10% aqueous methanol solution was used as the extraction solvent to extract the adenosine in maca. The HPLC
analysis was performed using a Waters SunfireTM C18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm). The mobile phase was CH3OH-H2O
(10:90, V/V) at a flow rate of 1.00 mL/min. The detection wavelength was 260 nm, and the column temperature was 26 ℃.
Multiple samples were analyzed under these chromatographic conditions. Results: The method had good linearity in the
concentration range of 2.81–90 μg/mL (R2=0.999 4), high precision and good reproducibility with relative standard deviation
(RSD) values of 0.728 3% and 1.745%, respectively. The sample solution was stable within 24 h (RSD = 1.069%), and
the average recovery of was 99.76% with a RSD value of 0.48% (n = 9). The analytical results of different maca samples
showed that different altitudes and differently colored maca varieties had great influences on the content of adenosine while
different drying methods and different tissues had more significant impacts. Conclusions: The HPLC method is suitable for
detecting the content of adenosine in maca for the quality control of maca materials.

Key words: maca, adenosine, HPLC, quality control